With some variations, all regional political formations, whether in power presently or out of it, share some common features: Tight family control of the political apparatus, key members in elected or appointed positions, obvious wealth but not quite known sources of income, and family factionalism, sometimes open and bitter, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Seven of Bollywood's big stars (Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Ajay Devgn, Varun Dhawan, Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham and Shahid Kapoor), who had 10 movies released with a collective budget of Rs 1,100 crore since December, could rustle up only around a third of that money at the box office.
The very timing of the Phalke Award on Rajini now, days ahead of Tamil Nadu voting in the assembly election, may have taken away the seriousness and credibility attaching to the Centre's decision, making it sound every bit political, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite Indian films of 2021.
Real estate major DLF, Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries, cinema production and distribution company Eros International, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Videocon Industries are believed to be readying to bid for team ownership rights in the Indian Premier League.
Sources close to both actors acknowledged the two being invited to Modi's swearing-in scheduled on Thursday, but did not divulge if the veterans would participate.
Films that amazed Aseem Chhabra at the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt.
Meel Patthar is, both by theme and design, a tragedy of inertia, observes Rohit Satish Nair.
Pellissery's women continue to express the beauty in our common humanity. And often, these women go so far into expressing our hopes, desires, absurdities and follies that they end up acting at variance with the ethical prescriptions of our age. And this, I believe, is precisely why they remain "invisible" to a whole bunch of viewers, says Sreehari Nair.
A Nedumudi Venu character was happiest when moving his head to a piece of music with his eyes closed; or, when inventing off of a note that a co-actor had left unfinished; or, when reciting a poem by Kavalam Narayana Panicker where a hymn about nature descends into a musing about cheating, depression and death, feels Sreehari Nair.
Rajini said his contemporary Kamal Haasan possibly knew what that something was.
'How can so many misfortunes fall on one beautiful family?'
Was romance invented so that Sanjay Leela Bhansali would one day make Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, which released on June 18, 1999, asks Subhash K Jha.
The revived factionalism in the AIADMK, if not curbed now, has the potential to split the party vertically, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
The supernatural element is Nirvana Inn's biggest triumph, says Moumita Bhattacharjee.
'As soon as the plane touched down and we emerged, barricades came down and his fans rushed towards us.' 'Then, before my astonished eyes, they had lifted him up and he was being passed along over the heads of people.' 'It was an incredible sight!'
H'Right now, it is like thousands of fireflies floating in my mind.' 'I've heard Aamir Khan is making the Mahabharat, but the Mahabharat is open to so many interpretations.' 'It really doesn't matter how many times we visit it.'
Despite its stiffness, in Aarkkariyam, a supernatural glow does shine out of the ordinary.
The upcoming Akshay Kumar starrer Toilet: Ek Prem Katha is set to use toilets of the Indian Railways
Both partners would inject $200 million each in the form of equity and hold 50 per cent stake each. They plan to raise another $600 million in the form of debt to create a corpus of $1 billion to develop malls across tier-I, II and III cities.
'I reached Bhopal the day after the gas tragedy; the smell was still in the air. It was a professional hazard but I was not scared.'
Ex-RS MP Harikrishna was an actor and had acted in several Telugu movies.
Rajini's call may now force other political parties, including the DMK and the Congress, who are in alliance talks already, to come up with water proposals of their own in their poll manifesto. In a way, this may be a 'tactical victory' for Rajinikanth, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The New York Film Festival served an amazing plate of films. Aseem Chhabra picks the best ones.
Truth be acknowledged, Rajinikanth is not known for wanting to leave his comfort zone to take the politico-electoral plunge, even if it meant his becoming the chief minister of a state that has conferred Tamil cinema's superstardom on him over the past 25 years. Today, his fans belong to the younger generation all right, but their numbers are far fewer than their counterparts in the '90s. They are not devoid of personal ambitions and agendas, unlike what Rajinikanh wants them to be, if he and they were to enter politics, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Greatness can come from simple beginnings. Actually it will come only from simplicity. Glad to start my journey from a great man's simple abode,' the actor said in a tweet after visiting House of Kalam in Rameswaram.
Alternating between brat and boy, deception and decency, Ishaan Khatter speaks with a passion that will be heard Beyond the Clouds, predicts Sukanya Verma.
'I wish him well in whatever he does and I will do so if he enters politics too.'
Bhumi Pednekar, Radhika Apte, Manisha Koirala, Kiara Advani luminate Netflix's Lust Stories, notes Sukanya Verma.
This week's digest of stories that are weird, true and funny.
'Tamil Nadu's youth bulge will soon be 70 per cent of the population, many of them smartphone-toting millennials looking for gains more tangible than what screen gods can give,' says Sunil Sethi.
'The real problem that has affected Tarantino's films is not their amorality. On the contrary, it's their misplaced morality.' 'The basic pitches for his movies, off late, tackle such pre-resolved issues, that they don't quite allow his pop-culture sensibilities to hit a crescendo and instead reduces them to trinkets in service of broad movie prototypes.' 'Which means that neither history nor cinema triumphs.'
All through Moothon, you can sense Mohandas trying hard to empathise with her characters; I just wish she was interested in them, declares Sreehari Nair.
'Kumbalangi Nights is a movie that respects women, but most importantly, it's a movie that loves them,' says Sreehari Nair.
Hindu Mahasabha has planned to celebrate Basant Panchami on Valentine's Day
Interstellar is an incredible ride, a film that will scare and stupefy and drop jaws and make us weep, the kind of film that makes our hearts thump against our ribs for forty straight-minutes and makes us believe in the glory of the movies.
Although famously reclusive and fitful in his creative output, Daniel Day-Lewis's decision to hang up his boots feels both untimely and unexpected.
Savouring Spielberg's fierce, fine movie; salivating over MAMI's line-up; gobbling a Shrek cake; visualising a desi Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants with Alia, Bhumi and more in Sukanya Verma's Super Filmi Week.
'When Rajkummar Rao plays Bose with his tummy jutting out, Buddha Ears, his mouth puffed, and his talk straight, it feels more like an echo piece than a real person,' feels Sreehari Nair.
